As Tay Township works on its upcoming fire master plan, the municipality is asking residents to help out through an ongoing survey to complete the process and ensure safe living conditions for all.
Following a community risk assessment by the Loomex Group last year, representative Bill Lorimer returned to the recent regular meeting of council with the next step in the process, presenting a slideshow to council on the fire master plan.
Lorimer explained during the brief presentation that its purpose was to not only meet required legislation such as the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, but also to provide both information and insight for needs from a community and municipal level, and recommending strategies for life-saving protection.
“Public education is very important in the fire service, followed by code enforcement, and then of course fire suppression,” said Lorimer. “The cost of performing fire suppression services is higher than the cost of delivering public education and code-enforcement initiatives; by prioritizing fire prevention, the fire department can reduce the need for fire suppressions.”
He added that an analysis on the fire department's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats would be reviewed when his firm speaks with local fire personnel and other staff members.
A question by Deputy Mayor Barry Norris regarded differing levels of service which the township provided; Lorimer explained that a municipality can determine its levels of service for any aspect from transit to parks and recreation.
“Almost every rescue service has three different types of services that it can provide, to certain levels,” said Lorimer. “Some of them are awareness, operations, and technical.
“We’ll speak in the document about what we suggest, and then after the fire master plan is delivered the fire chief will review this and bring to council those thoughts on your level of service.”
At one point in the presentation, Lorimer noted that he had seen advertisement of a survey on the fire master plan through the township’s electronic signs, and praised council for informing the public.
In response, Mayor Ted Walker said to residents that the survey would be accepting public input until the deadline of March 28, available to fill out online or by obtaining a hard copy at the municipal office at 450 Park Street in Victoria Harbour.
“It’s your opportunity to make some comments. We’d appreciate it very much,” said Walker.
The fire master plan slideshow presentation from the Loomex Group can be found in the agenda page on the Tay Township website.
Tay council meets for committee of the whole meetings every second Wednesday of the month, and regular council meetings every fourth Wednesday of the month. Archives and livestreams of council meetings are available through the Tay Township YouTube channel.